Thread-tension eyelet device



June 28, 1960 J. c. BAUMGARDNER 2,942,803

THREAD-TENSION EYELET DEVICE Filed NOV. 7, 1957 ZNVEN'ITORI JOHN C. BAUMGARDNER BY f - ATTORNEYS tes Pateflt THREAD-TENSION EYELET DEVICE John c. Baumgardner, Po. Box 153, Landrum, s.c.

'Flled Nov. 7, 1951, Ser. No. 694,941

' 4 Claims. 01. 242-153 invention relates generally to knitting machinery and more particularly to means for maintaining a. light tension on textile threads or yarns while they are being knitted or otherwise handled.

The invention is especially useful on the moistening box of any full-fashioned or flat-bed knitting machine but it may be used in any textile operation where thread is used and a small amount of tension, uniformly applied, is desi red.-

The invention contemplates thread tensioning means incorporated in an eyelet device which may be substituted for any of the usual porcelain thread guiding eyes or eyelets on eylet holders now commonly used on moistening boxes of such knitting machines; and one object of the invention is to provide such a thread-tension eyelet device which will give. the thread the proper amount of knitting tension and eliminate snarling.

Another object of the invention is to use the usual ring as a tensioning weight and so construct the thread guiding portion of the device that the ring will be caused to slowly turn as the thread is drawn through the device, thereby producing a more even tension on the thread and preventing grooving of the ring and the eyelet like thread guiding portion of the device.

Another object is to provide a device of this character which is of simple and relatively inexpensive construction and which is highly elfective in operation.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts and the novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the present preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a well known form of eyelet holder adapted to be mounted on a moistening box and showing the new thread-tension eyelet device substituted for one of the porcelain eyelets, parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a side View, on an enlarged scale, of the device;

Fig. 3 is a top view; 7

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical cross section through the eyelet holder and the associated end of the device.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the numeral denotes the old eyelet holder which comprises a straight metal strip with spring clips 11 at its ends to support it on the upper edge of a moistening box now commonly used in connection with a flat-bed knitting machine. A row of porcelain thread guiding eyes or eyelets 12 are detachably mounted in holes in the strip 10. The edges of the holes are formed with an annular series of angularly projecting teeth 13 adapted to grip the cylindrical body portions of the eyelets and hold them with their enlarged ends or heads against one face of the strip or holder 10. My thread-tension eyelet device, designated by the numeral 15, may replace any of "ice the eyelets 12, but it is to be understood that this is but one way of using the devices.

The tensioning and anti-snarling device 15 comprises a weight 16 in the form of a circular ring and a unitary body which may be molded or cast in one piece, or made in three pieces rigidly fastened together. The unitary or one-piece body may be made of any hard material such as hardened steel, glass, ceramics, nylon or plastic, and as shown it is made in three pieces welded, fused, cemented or otherwise united. The body comprises inner and outer longitudinal alined tubular portions 18 and 19 held in spaced relation by a substantially Ushaped connecting portion 20. The tubes or elements 18 and 19 form thread guiding eyelets, and when the body is made of three pieces the connecting portion 20 may be formed at the upper ends of its two arms with oppositely projecting transversely-concave flanges 21 adapted to receive the bottom portions of the cylindrical tubular portions 18 and 19 and to be permanently united thereto as at 22.

Preferably the free end of the inner tubular member or eyelet 18 has suitable means for horizontally mounting the device on a support so that the connecting portion 20 projects downwardly, but as shown, that end 23 is cylindrical and of a size to enter one of the openings in the holder 10 and be gripped by the teeth 13. A radially projecting flange 24 may be formed on the end 23 to provide an annular shoulder to abut the outer face of the strip 10, as seen in.. Figs. 1 and 5.

zThe yarn or thread T. passes through the alined bores of the'tubesor eyelet elements 18 and 19 and through the ring 16 which'is disposed for free vertical movement in the narrow space 25 between the opposed dam of the arms of the U-shaped portion and the opposed ends of the two eyelet elements. That space is only slightly wider than the thickness of the ring weight. While in some uses of the device the connecting or bottom portion 20 might be provided with means for attaching the device to a support, the primary purpose of this portion is to hold the eyelets spaced and form means to guide the ring and limit its downward movement in the channel 26 between the sides or arms 27 of the U-shaped member 20. The bottom part 28 connecting the arms 27 is surrounded by the ring weight and has its upper side 29 formed with a transverse curvature which conforms to the curvature of the inside of the ring so that when the latter drops to this curved or oval shaped surface 29 it will have a tendency to hold the thread from being drawn through the ring, thus preventing kinking of the thread. The tlat opposed and parallel faces of the channel 26 are flush with the 1 corresponding faces at the ends of the tubes .18 and 19, and I have found that by disposing those faces at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the tubes several advantages are gained. The ring used as a tensioning weight is held at an angle to the thread and this angle causes the ring to turn slowly and evenly as it moves up and down as the thread is drawn through the device. The gradual rotation of the ring not only prevents grooving of the ring in one spot and grooving of the ends of the eyelets 18 and 19, but it tends to apply tension to the thread in a more even manner and also minimizes the tension as the thread is drawn through. Further when the yarn or thread ceases to be drawn through, the ring drops down and holds it on the curved surface 29 at the bottom of the channel, as seen in Fig. 4. I have found that the device will operate satisfactorily if the angular disposition of the space 25 and the channel 26 is approximately 60.

The holding of the thread by the ring on the curved bottom of the channel prevents excess thread from being drawn through and prevents kinking of the thread. The device is therefore particularly useful on a flatbed knitting machine having a thread carrier that moves from side to side, stopping at each side before returning to the opposite side. This stopping of the carrier forms an edge on the knitted fabric. At high speed and without any tensioning, loops will forms at each edge because of the overthrow ofithe thread the thread carrier stops. w The invention prevents this and causes a smooth straight edge to. :be .formed at each side of the knitted fabric.

Thefree end of the outer. tubular portion 19 is preferably formed with an annular enlargement or head 30 which is of less diameter than the inner diameter of the ring so that rings having difierent Weight may be applied to and removed from the body of thedevice while the latter is mounted on the holder 19 or any other support. Figs; 2, '3 and 4 show the device on a larger scale than full sized devices usually used on flatbed knitting machines, but it will be understood that the size of the device may be varied. When used on eyelet carriers such as 10, the device may have an overall length of about 1%", an overall heightof a bore of. Vs" in tubular portions having a diameter of and the angular space 25, '26 may be 7 From the foregoingtaken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it-will be seen that noveland advantageous provision has been made for carrying out .the objects of the invention, and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

' l-claim:

'11.. An eyelet device of the character set forth adapted to be substituted for a thread-guiding eyelet in an eyelet holder of a'knitting machine, comprising a unitary body having inner and outer longitudinally alined thread-guiding tubes with their opposed ends held in spaced relation by a U-shaped connecting portion which depends from said ends when the body is horizontally mounted onan eyelet holder by having the inner end 'of its inner tube positioned in a hole in the eyelet holder, said U-shaped poitionsupporting the outer tube with its inner end in spaced relation .to the opposite end of the inner tube and forming a vertical channel to guide a ring-shaped weight as it is moved by a thread passing through it and ,4 the alined tubes, the said channel being disposed at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said aligned tubes.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the angle of said channel is an angle of approximately 60 to the longitudinal axis of said alined tubes.

3. The device of claim 1 in which said depending U- shaped portion of the body has a bottom part with its upper face provided with a curvature corresponding substantially to the curavature of the inside of the ring weight, whereby when the downward movement of the ring Weight is limited by said bottom part, the thread will beheld between the ring weight and said curved upper face.

4. An eyelet device of the character set forth adapted to be used in a horizontalposition and in which a ring is used as a thread tensioning weight, comprising'two elongated longitudinally alined and spaced tubes through which the thread passes and a connecting member rigidly holding said tubes with their opposed ends in closely spaced relation, said member including a u-shaped portion which extends downwardly below the s aced ends Of the tubes and which has a bOfitOm part connecting laterally spaced vertical arms to provide an opnatop chann l opening into the space-between the 't'wotilbes, said channel being adapted to receive a ringlweight that surrounds said bottom part and through which the thread also passes, the opposed vertical races of said "arms being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the ring Weight and serving to guide the latter, at least- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS I "2,082,443 Desjardins June 1, 1937 7 2,269,550 Pons Jan. 13, 1 942 2,714,812 Leath et al. Aug. 9, 1955 oan-Mare, 

